Lord of the Rings Inspired LED Strip Lamp | LOTR Balrog Mood Lamp | Bending Plywood Project

"You shall not pass!"

I needed to make an rgb mood lamp to stand in a corner and my first idea was to create something with a very simple and minimalist look but while sketching one quite old idea stepped up and demanded attention. Balrog is one of the most iconic characters from the LOTR movie trilogy and I have for rather a long time wanted to make a lamp related to it.

I cannot go "all in" with this lamp build and make something with a large body because I am limited with space in which this led lamp has to stand in. But at the same time something as iconic as Balrog deserves to be on the large side of the scale to be eye-catching and so I designed it to be as high as possible to maximize the lighted up area.

So, may this woodworking project begin!

Step 1: Stable Floor Lamp

This lamp needs a heavy weight as a base to be stable because it is going to be high. The easiest solution to get weight is to make the base out of concrete.

Making this mold is easy since it is just a rectangular box with a piece of wood to make a slot which is going to be the place into which I can attach the leg of the lamp. I used some pieces of laminated chipboard and plywood that were left over from my aqueduct project to make the mold.
The dimensions of the base (inner dimensions of the mold) are 180x180x250 mm. The piece of wood that I use as a leg is 45x45 mm in cross dimensions. I covered that piece of wood with olive oil to ease its removal after the concrete has dried.

I placed four 10 mm wood dowels into the wet concrete after the pour which will give a place to insert screws for the small legs/pieces of wood that must be added later to lift the block off the ground. It would otherwise damage the floor.

I also wanted it to look a bit rough, more as a stone than a smooth surface pour block. Therefore I chose a concrete mix with larger stones and opened the mold only after 24 hours of drying. It damaged the surface and I also removed some small pieces by hand, then allowed it to try for another 24 hours. Then removed the piece of wood that makes the slot for the leg.

After that I drilled two 8 mm holes into the slot which are needed for the dowels that are needed to attach the leg to the base. Also made 4 little squares out of plywood which will be attached under the base to lift the concrete edges off the ground.

Step 2: Tall Floor Lamp

The Balrog lamp is high but the leg of the lamp is a simple piece of 1.95 m long timber with a 45x45 mm cross dimension.

I sawed off a piece of wood from one end, this is the place for the light controller SP108E. Then I used my handheld router to make a 12 mm wide and 10 mm deep groove for the led strip. Then made the two holes needed to attach the piece to the concrete base with screws.

After painting the first layer I made a change into the design and removed a piece from the top tip of the leg with a hand saw. The cables will go through this groove.

Step 3: Kerf Bending the Face of Balrog Lamp 1

I wanted depth to the face shape (this is important visually when the lamp is not working) and therefore decided to bend it a bit using kerf bending. After some 3d modelling I printed out a 1:1 drawing and then made a quick model out of cardboard pieces, just to see the shape in real life.

There is an online calculator to find the kerf dimensions but it always makes sense to make some test pieces. https://www.blocklayer.com/kerf-spacing.aspx

Then I took a 600 x 1000 mm and 10 mm thick sheet of birch plywood and made the first cuts for kerf bending. After the cuts into the plywood I used a jigsaw and cut through the kerf cuts in the area which will be cut out later because its the mouth of the Balrog. It is probably not that important but it makes the bend a bit easier because it reduces the resistance of plywood while bending. I did glue about 20 mm of the both ends of the kerf bend of the mouth area to ensure that the edge will be firmly glued. Then also the piece that is cut out later can be used to weld together a clamp that holds the head to the lamps leg.

First I made the middle bend and glued it together using construction adhesive and two small load straps. It is better to make the first bend without cutting out the entire shape because it gives enough rigidity to use the straps.

Step 4: Kerf Bending the Face of Balrog Lamp 2

After the first bend I cut out the entire shape and then cut the kerfs for the bending of the horns.Then added glue and used the straps to bend the horns. This time the straps went through the eyes and I used clamps to make sure that the straps wont move on the curved edge of the horns.

After having made this bent face I would now probably cut out the eyes and nose before making the first middle bend. This enables to cut them out from the backside of the material and therefore minimize the splinter damage to the edges made by the jigsaw. The mouth has to be cut out later because the material needs to be as rigid as possible for the first bend to ensure it stays level.

Also my mistake was that I didn't take into account the fact that the material was quite old and therefore more open to splintering and therefore under these kind of circumstances it would even more make sense to make the cut from the backside.

Step 5: Holding the Head in Place

The connection between the head and leg of the lamp has to be strong and therefore I had to make a clamp out of metal. It is made out of five pieces (3 mm thick steel) and is welded together. It is attached to the leg with two screws and to the head with 4 short screws.

The mouth piece that I cut out earlier came handy in welding of this clamp, it already had the right angle of the middle kerf bend. When the piece was welded I drilled all the holes needed for the screws and it was ready for painting.

Step 6: Sanding and Painting

The glue was now dry and it was time to sand the piece. I used my angle grinder to lightly sand the edges and also the middle bend. Wood putty was needed to hide the splinter damages from the cutting and cover the kerf lines on the front side.

I also cut out 4 small rectangles out of plywood which are going to be attached under the concrete base (into the wooden dowels inserted into the wet concrete) to avoid damage to the floor.

Then I painted everything black, including the steel clamp. After the first layer of paint had dried I decided to make a small change into the design and cut a small groove into the tip of the leg with a hand saw. The cables for the led strips will go through there.

Step 7: Led Strips and Final Assembly

I used an rgb led strip with 120 leds per meter. The head part has 7 pieces on it and 1 piece is on the leg. In total 4,5 meters of led strip was needed. I added some hot glue onto the short cables that connect the strips. This helps to hold the led strips in place. Over time the tapes glue on the strips tends to come loose.

The 4 small pieces of plywood were attached under the concrete base with screws.

Then I attached the leg to the metal clamp and connected the led strip of the leg with the led strips of the head using a small plug and then placed the leg to its place into the slot of the concrete base. After inserting the 2 screws I connected the cables to the SP108 led strip controller. The controller is attached with 2 small screws to its place at the bottom of the leg and then connected with a power supply.

Step 8: RGB Mood Lamp Finished

And this diy lamp build is done!

This lamp will stand in a corner where the concrete base is not visible but now I would say that it would look a bit better if the base is also black. If I would do it again I would try to make the concrete black using concrete pigment. I probably will paint it black in the near future.

In the end this lamp came out as planned and in a few weeks it will move into its new home.